Four Stars Gazing at the Moon

Four Stars Gazing at the Moon—known locally as "Xingguo powdered steamer-bed"—steams fresh fish slices coated in rice flour in a round bamboo steamer as the "moon," ringed by four small plates of shredded fish, stir-fried snow peas, cured pork with spring bamboo and mei-cai pork belly as the "stars," the whole dish set like stars around the moon.

In April 1929 Mao Zedong led the Fourth Red Army into Xingguo, where local cadres served the traditional steamed powdered fish; seeing one large steamer at the centre ringed by four small plates, he likened it to "four stars gazing at the moon" and named it himself. The Hakka steamed-fish dish became the classic course for hosting the Red Army in Xingguo, and has travelled down through that red memory to the present.

Brought to the table as a whole steamer, diners lift the lid for the tender rice-flour fish first, then work through the four accompanying plates; the flour drinks in the fish's freshness while each side-dish carries its own savoury note, many flavours from one dish—a signature of Xingguo banquets and red-themed dining.

The composition of a moon-like steamed-fish steamer ringed by four star-like plates, together with the red history of Mao's own naming, are the one-of-a-kind marks of this dish.